sultriness

Word Origin & History

1590s, "oppressively hot, close and moist" (of weather), from obsolete verb sulter "to swelter" (1580s), alteration of swelter. Figurative sense of "hot with lust" is attested from 1704; of women, "lascivious, sensual, arousing desire" it is recorded from 1940.

Example Sentences for sultriness

A week went by,—a week of weather that had all the sultriness of August.

The water was inviting, with the sultriness of the afternoon.

What with the dancing and the sultriness of the weather, the night was about as hot as an oven.

It was, as he said, a splendid day—all sultriness dissipated by the strong wind.

Upon him and his mother lay the sultriness of a brewing tempest.

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